


The Misfits’ Misadventures on Mercury

by astraldrake



Series: Destiny Oc stuff [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Mild Language, Osiris is mostly there in reflection form, a trio of edgy dorks hunt a vex mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25142869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraldrake/pseuds/astraldrake
Summary: A slight rewrite of the Curse of Osiris campaign to fit my three ocs.
Relationships: Male Guardian & Ghost (Destiny), Male Guardian & Original Fallen | Eliksni Character(s)
Series: Destiny Oc stuff [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703521
Kudos: 1





	The Misfits’ Misadventures on Mercury

**Author's Note:**

> Small warning, I have no idea if I’ll ever finish this but I wanted to post it anyways because I like how it turned out. I should probably note that I’ve made some alterations to my character’s canons since I last wrote about them so if anything seems inconsistent with their previous canon, that’s why.

“Why did I think it was a good idea to listen to some crazy cultists and their stupid cryptic demands?” Darren grumbled as he trudged through the harsh mercurian sands. They were lucky this job paid well, he thought as more grains of sand pelted against his helmet. They had hired him to carry a message through the desert wastes to one of their outposts, a battered little encampment that had grown quite harder to reach after the planet started being consumed by the Almighty, which now floated uselessly around the sun. He had made good time, despite the absolutely useless and cryptic instructions they had given him, and was bringing back a return message from the inhabitants of the base.

“It’s almost like they don’t want to pay us.” Corvid joked as they continued on. She was floating along with little trouble, while her risen spent his time leaping over the deep crevices that had formed in the ground, and struggling over dunes of sand. These were paths far less deeply worn than those that sat near the Lighthouse.

As they approached the immense structure, wind battered and sandy, Corvid stopped suddenly, shell twitching in concern.

“Hold on,” Darren turned to his ghost, pausing at her command. “ I’m picking something up, it’s faint, but I think we should check it out.” The risen nods.

“Lead the way, Corvi.” He tenses his grip on his wire rifle, as Corvid leads him towards a nearby dune. He spots a few vex in the distance and casually picks them off as she circles it. They both spot it at roughly the same time, a small glint of something metal buried in the sand. Darren tugs at it, and more sand tumbles down the pile as he unearths the buried object.

“Shit.” He mutters, holding the unusually shaped shell of a ghost.

“This is bad Darren, really, really, bad.” Corvid scans the other ghost, and seems to deflate, as if relieved. “Thankfully they’re not dead, just inactive. We should find their guardian, if they have one.” Darren nods, gingerly setting the ghost in one of his belt pouches.

“We could ask Vance,” Darren sighs, resigned. “He knows who comes through here, so unfortunately he’s our best shot at getting them into the right hands.” Neither of them are looking forward to conversing with the cultist, both finding his fanaticism irritating and unnerving. Resigning themselves to their fate, the pair head for the Lighthouse.

* * *

“Risen, I hope you’ve returned with good news?” Vance refuses to greet Darren by name, but at least he acknowledges that Darren is no guardian. The lightbearer hands over the letters, glaring beneath his helmet. Vance hands them off to a fellow cultist, before turning back to his book. Darren extends his hand.

“Payment.” He grunts, having little time for the fanatic’s theatrics. Vance sighs and mutters something before producing a pouch of glimmer and handing it off.

“Anything else?” The man asks with a lofty tone that makes Darren want to deck him.

“Yeah.” Darren cautiously removes the inert ghost from his bag, its tiny spikes glinting. “Do any of you recognize this ghost?” He asks the room, as a few of the followers perk up, curious. Some move closer, and suddenly the room descends into hurried whispers. One of the cultists sidles up to Vance and whispers something to him. The man freezes, visibly shaken.

“If the others are not mistaken, that is Osiris’s ghost, Sagira.” Vance sounds genuinely worried, and the other cultists are whispering nervously. Before Darren or Corvid can say anything, one of the cultists presses a ragged slip of paper into his hand,

“Coordinates to a base of ours on earth, there is a machine there that may be able to revive her.” The follower, an exo with bright green eyes, tells them hurriedly.

“Thanks.” Corvid answers weakly, as Darren returns the ghost to his bag and begins to

push through the crowd. Some of the cultists whisper prayers, and Corvid wonders who they are praying to, since their god is likely out of commission.

“We will await your return, lightbearer. Osiris preserve you.” Darren nearly shudders at how serious they sound, doing his best to calm his rattled nerves as Corvid summons their jumpship, which the two had affectionately named the Trash-heap.

Once they break orbit, Darren slumps down in the seat.

“Well,” he gives a half delirious chuckle “this is not how I saw our day going. What the fuck are we gonna do? This is so far above our paygrade.” He turns to Corvid, who is pensively flicking her shell back and forth, a nervous tic.

“We should contact Pen and Ahkris, tell them what we’ve found. Then we follow the coordinates, since at present they’re our only lead.” Corvid thinks out loud, as Darren nods in agreement.

“Let’s hope these crazy fuckers are right about this machine, because we’re gonna have a hell of a time if they aren’t.” Darren rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms, he’s been avoiding sleep again.

“If that really is Osiris’s ghost, then he’s in danger of permadeath, and if he dies, then there’s nobody keeping the vex busy-“

“And then they become a bigger problem, and then possibly a threat to us.” Darren finishes, nodding. “Let’s get back to base, the others need to hear about this.”

* * *

The Trash-heap descends on the little burnt out town, which has been repurposed as a base for the Misfits. Abandoned during the collapse, it had served as a warlord hideout before the Iron Lords rolled in and re-emptied it. Because of this history of violence and neglect, many of the remaining buildings had to be reinforced before they could be reliably used, and a lack of cover meant the Ketch ended up being a rough kilometers’ trek away, hidden with the rest of the skiffs in a nearby forest. Darren sprinted through camp, narrowly dodging crew-mates as he made his way to the town’s central square, which had been repurposed as a training ring for the trio of lightbearers. He found Penumbra dead with her head half hanging off her shoulders, and Ahkris nursing a shotgun blast to the side. Ahkris tilted her head at her little brother’s unusual nervousness, as Penumbra, now healed, pushed herself to her feet. The ex-titan regarded him, noting his worried expression as she marched over.

“Well? What is it kid?” Penumbra-5 glared down at him, purple eyes glowing with impatience.

“We found a ghost, and-” Corvid cuts him off.

“We found the ghost of a legendary guardian half buried in a sand dune, and a friend of ours-” Darren scoffs at the term friend “Ok fine, acquaintance of ours, thinks there may be a way to get the ghost back on their metaphorical feet.” Ahkris watches intently as Penumbra crosses her arms.

“Whose do they think it is?” The exo asks, curious.

“You know that one crazy old warlock?” Darren starts, he doesn't want to be obtuse, but saying the guardian’s name aloud feels wrong.

“Which one? Most of em’ are crazy.” Penumbra jokes, earning a rumbling chuckle from Ahkris and a snicker from Darren.

“The one who was obsessed with the Vex? He wrote some prophecies or something?” Pen’s eyes go wide, and she nods in recognition.

“Well shit.”

“That’s what I said.”

“If another of our kind is in danger, we should aid them, regardless of their status.” Ahkris interrupts them, rising to her full height. “We are in no place to judge, outcasts that we are. We should find this base as soon as possible, no time for delays.” Ruby flickers into existence over her shoulder as she murmurs something in eliksni, too quiet for either of them to hear. Penumbra simply nods stiffly to her ghost, who vanishes moments later. Corvid’s already called the Trash-Heap, as Ahkris and Pen’s ships also lower to pick up their passengers.

* * *

It’s only been roughly five hours since they found the ghost. The ride to the closest safe landing zone feels like both an eternity and a few moments, but Darren’s already calling his modified Pike the moment his feet hit the soggy dead-zone earth. The others are on his tail for most of the ride, which is quiet until they hit the tunnels. The tunnels are stuffed full of trip-mines. Ruby notes the handiwork as eliksni, meaning some crew has set up a temporary base there, likely for scavenging. Most of the smart ones turn and run at the sight of the three. The few foolish enough to fight become well acquainted with either the end of Pen’s shotgun, or Ahkris and Darren’s wire rifles. By the time they reach the base, most of the enemy has cleared out, and the few stragglers that remain have little interest in fighting.

They descend into the old radio tower, following the coordinates they were given. The cultists are dead, long dead, by the smell in that reaches into Darren’s helmet and threatens to steal his lunch. The machine is mercifully intact, the scavengers having little interest in it. Darren removes the ghost from his pouch, cautiously placing her in the slot that seems perfectly fitted to the shell. The trio have just long enough to wonder if it’s working before the machine glows intensely and a new voice breaks the silence.

“What? Where am I? And who are y- Captain, on your six!” The ghost shouts and all three spin around simultaneously, finding no-one there. It takes them all a moment to realize the ghost is talking about Ahkris, who laughs at the situation.

“Do not worry little ghost, I am not an enemy.” She raises her hands, showing herself to be unarmed.

“Yeah don’t worry about Ahkris, she’s a big softie, so she won’t hurt ya” Darren says, earning a light slap to the back of the head for his comment.

“Well, that’s unusual.” The ghost regards the trio, her eye flicking between them. “Did you really put me in a strange machine you’ve never seen before?”

“It was the best option we had.” Darren shrugged, somewhat defensive. “We should probably take you back to your guardian now the we’ve got you awake.”

“I’m guessing you’ve already heard of him then.” Her tone is full of both exhaustion and mild pride.

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Finding him will take time, the faster we get there the better.”

The trio climb their way out of the tower, calling their ships.

“You’re riding with Darren, by the way. Since I doubt you want to go with Ahkris.” Penumbra tells the ghost, vanishing aboard her ship.

* * *

The ride is quiet with Darren and Corvid sitting in awkward silence.

“So, how did you find me, and how did you know who I was?” Sagira asks, doing her best to break the silence.

“I was picking up an odd distress signal, and guided my guardian to its source. He spotted you sticking halfway out of a sand dune.” Corvid begins.

“We were in the middle of a job, courier duty for the local cultists, since they pay well, even if they creep us out.” Darren doesn’t turn away from the controls, but his grip tightens when he mentions the cultists. “We figured they were our best shot at identifying you, and asked around after we got paid. It was eerie, when I asked, they all got quiet, whispering to eachother. Then one of them told me who you were and another pressed a piece of paper with the coordinates into my hands.”

“And you just, followed them? They could have lead you into a trap.”

“Not if they valued their lives.”

“Whatever you’ve heard about him from them, it’s probably wrong.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

* * *

Darren doesn’t usually get nervous, but as the three of them touch down on the sandy surface there’s a pit in his stomach, and as the gate to the forest looms on the horizon it grows deeper. The other two are ahead of him, Ahkris shoots down a few distant hobgoblins while Penumbra simply forges ahead. They’re all tense. The gate yawns before them, an immense glowing triangle at its center.

“Osiris saw something in the forest, I don’t know what it was, but it terrified him. We need to find him, and fast.” Sagira remarks as they climb the steps.

“And lemme guess, you thought we’d chicken out if we had known that before.” Penumbra readies her shotgun, warily eyeing the gate as the others move to stand next to her.

“No. I’m telling you this now because it’s relevant.”

“Yeah you totally could have told us ‘oh by the way, something scared the absolute shit out of my extremely powerful guardian, but I’m sure the three of you, who are all likely throwing around less than half that might combined, can totally survive whatever horrible vex monstrosity tries to wipe us from existence.’ but didn’t because it wasn’t relevant-“

“ENOUGH, Penumbra.” Ahkris growls, looming over the titan. “She is not like your old allies. We are trying to help her, we have no time for your grudges dih-dahn.” Penumbra steps back, before Darren speaks up.

“We’re burning time we don’t have, Pen. And picking fights gets us nowhere. C’mon.” He takes a step towards the portal and Ahkris follows suit. Pen grunts and tries to, but gets pushed back.

“I’m not taking you with, not after that.” Sagira snaps, and Penumbra shrugs, trying to seem unaffected.

“Guess I’m waiting out here then. Have fun dying you two.” She snarks, sitting down with her back to one of the columns. Ahkris and Darren and step inside without another word.

* * *

They find themselves in an oddly shaped hallway, with no offshoots or alternate paths. Darren lets Ahkris take the lead, this is nothing like the Garden. Not that he’d want it to be, but for them it’s uncharted territory, which means it’s incredibly dangerous. Ahkris breaks the tense silence.

“Apologies for Penumbra, little light, she gets... paranoid, sometimes. But that does not excuse her actions.”

“So, why keep her around?” The ghost asks, spikes flaring.

“Another time. I think it’s more important that we find your guardian.” Ahkris’ tone is clipped, sharp.

They exit the tunnel, which opens into an immense, cloudy void, the sky above is metal and flickers periodically as lightning arcs through the clouds. A series of platforms appear before them, materializing with a flash. Darren shoots Ahkris a nervous look as he readies his wire rifle. She draws one of her swords, taking a tentative step onto the platform, they both relax as it holds. A group of cabal appear before them, roaring and grunting.

“They may be simulations, but they can still kill, so be careful.” Sagira warns as the armored creatures advance. Ahkris draws her other blade and charges the centurions, roaring challenge. Darren curses as a psion’s shot pierces his side, stumbling before raising his own rifle and swiftlyhitting its head. They clear the section with surprisingly little effort. It’s emptier than they expected. They activate the gate, and the next set appears before them.

The fight takes what feels like ages as the pair burn through section after section of simulated enemies. Hive, Vex, Cabal, none real and all bloodthirsty. Finally, they reach the gate and push through.

“Well that was-“ Darren trails off, exhausted.

“Awful?” Ahkris says what they’re both thinking.

“Yeah. I hope we never have to do this again.”

“If we find my guardian, you’ll be in luck.” Sagira chimes in.

“Wonderful.”

“Eia.”

* * *

They enter the massive cylindrical construct, a space mostly swamped in darkness and with no visible ceiling.

“We might encounter some of Osiris’ reflections, they’re copies he made of himself in order to explore more timelines. Watch for any flickering yellow lights, that’ll probably be them.”

“Cool.” The grin in the risen’s voice is apparent.

“Let us hope you never find out how to do that, I can barely tolerate one of you as it is.” Ahkris jokes, prompting a cackle from Darren.

“Ok now I’m gonna ask him how, just to annoy you.”

“Do not dare.” Ahkris says with mock seriousness.

“What’re ya gonna do? Dock me?”

“Hm, now there’s an idea.”

“How am I gonna shoot if I have no arms?”

“You can be a, what do you call them? Meat-shield?”

“Good luck with that, I’m tiny, I wouldn’t protect anything.”

“Fair point. Maybe I could-”

“Hey you two. I’m sure this conversation is riveting, but please shoot the conflux.” The ghost pulls the pair out of their banter, and a few moments later Ahkris’ shot shatters the glowing cube. The walls rumble.

A reflection shimmers into existence, outline juddering as it stares down at the pair of risen and their ghost ally.

“Sagira, who are they?” The shimmering form asks.

“The human is Darren, the eliksni is Ahkris, they’re here to help.” Darren gives a wave while Ahkris nods in acknowledgement. “Where is Osiris?” The ghost asks, worry drifting into her voice.

“You cannot go to him, he sent you away for your own safety.” Another shimmering from responds, snapping into existence off to their left.

“Sorry if I’m asking a stupid question, but wouldn’t she be safer with him rather than without him?” Darren’s grip nervously tightens on his rifle as the pair of reflections turn to stare at him.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Her presence here puts everything at risk. The timelines are expanding, it’s almost too late.”

“Too late? Too late for what?” Ahkris rumbles the question.

“We will show you, follow us.” The reflections flicker out and the trio are left to follow the trail of glittering shapes.

The pair of Misfits exchange a look, they know for certain now that whatever this is, it is far out of their league. It’s the Black Garden all over again, except this time they fear they may not be so lucky as to survive whatever evil resides here. Sagira seems pensive, saying nothing as she follows them. They come out into a deactivated gate overlooking the forest. The shuddering shapes of several reflections stand before it, waiting.

“What did he find? What scared him so badly?” The ghost demands, shell flaring.

“The vex are close to finding the path to total victory.Panoptes must be stopped, but we have not found a timeline in which we succeed.” The reflection explains as a portal opens and it gestures for them to step through.

“This is all we can see.” The reflection’s words echo in Darren’s ears as his eyes dart about the shattered remains of the Lighthouse. The sun is dark, and he shudders at the grim sight of this dark future. Ahkris is equally horrified, her eyes are dim and wide, and she moves closer to her little brother, stance protective.

“Neither Light nor Darkness exists anymore, the sun’s warmth is but a memory, and all life has been extinguished along with it. This is the future Panoptes has sought, a future made for the vex, and the vex alone.” The reflection monologues, arms crossed as it gestures to the shattered structure around them. “But that was before you two. You could change everything.” The pair are silent, horrified by the knowledge they’ve been given and the enormity of what is being placed on their shoulders.

“I don’t think we’re-” Darren begins to protest before being cut off by a rumbling. An immense vex mind forms before the broken roof of the Lighthouse, letting out an earsplitting mechanical roar.

“You two may be the only key to stopping this! GO!” The reflection shouts, as another gate appears behind them. Ahkris gets through first, pulling Darren behind her. Sagira simply vanishes, reappearing on the other side.

“What the hell was that thing?” Darren shudders as their pace slows to a jog.

“Pan-op-teez, most likely.” Ahkris answers, sounding out the odd name.

“Yep, and this is bad, really, really bad.” Sagira’s voice is laced with fear. “We all need to work together, you two, me, Osiris, maybe even your titan friend.”

“This is far more dangerous than our usual work,” Ahkris notes, “perhaps we should find someone more suited to the task.”

“No time, we’ll have to make do with you three.”

“If you are certain, little ghost.”

“I have a name you know.”

“Eia, is just hard to pronounce, I did not mean to offend.”

“Okay then.”

* * *

They exit the gate, finding themselves back on the surface of Mercury. Penumbra flinches at their sudden appearance.

“What happened? You both look terrified, did he try to kill you?” She studies the pair with a concerned gaze,

“No Pen, he didn’t. But we found what scared him.” Darren responds as exo notices the presence of their third. She grabs her shotgun from it’s resting place by the pillar.

“And?”

“Giant vex mind, tried to kill us, wants to bring about a future wherein the vex attain total victory, y’know just the nice fluffy shit.” He tries to shrug, but he’s still tense.

“So I called it.”

“Partially, you were wrong about the part where Sagira knew what it was before we entered.” Penumbra blinks at that, before nodding.

“So how are we planning on taking this bastard down?” She asks, turning to the ghost. For a so called renegade, she is remarkably eager to take orders.

“I’m still working on a full plan, but I know where we can start.” Sagira responds, surprised by Penumbra’s question.

“And that is?”

“We shouldgo to the vanguard, Ikora might be able to help us.” All three of them stare at the ghost like she’s just asked them to shoot themselves in the knees.

“Oh hell no. I’m fine with doing dangerous stuff, but that’s just asking us to walk straight to our deaths.” Darren comments, shaking his head.

“As far as the vanguard is aware, I’m dead and these two don’t exist, and as you might imagine we’re kinda partial to keeping it that way.” Penumbra adds, crossing her arms.

“Dead?”

“Long story, let’s just say there’s a lot of self proclaimed heroes who are quite glad I kicked the bucket.”

“Perhaps we should first learn how to destroy this Mind, then track it down and end it.” Ahkris interrupts. “Do you know of any ways to find such knowledge?”

“We need to find a map. finding the Mind is going to be harder than killing it, and time is of the essence here.”

“Ok, so where do we look?” Darren asks.

“Nessus, we need to track down an entangled mind, take it’s brain, and use that to search for Panoptes.” The trio nod, calling their ships.


End file.
